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The Birth of a Nation

In this video from The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow, learn about the film The Birth of a Nation. This 1915 silent film was adapted from the novel The Clansman, which dramatized southern life in the period of Reconstruction. The story presents Ku Klux Klan members as noble men and vilifies southern black men as sexual predators of white women. While the N.A.A.C.P. tried desperately to have the film banned, it was to no avail. After the film's release, rampant white violence against black men spread across the South.

On the evening of March 21, 1915, President Woodrow Wilson attended a special screening at the White House of The Birth of a Nation, a film directed by D.W. Griffith and based on The Clansman, a novel written by Wilson's good friend Thomas Dixon. The film presented a distorted portrait of the South after the Civil War, glorifying the Ku Klux Klan and denigrating blacks. It falsified the period of Reconstruction by presenting blacks as dominating southern whites (almost all of whom are noble in the film) and sexually forcing themselves upon white women. The Klan was portrayed as the South's savior from this alleged tyranny. Not only was this portrayal untrue, it was the opposite of what actually happened. During Reconstruction, whites dominated blacks and assaulted black women. The Klan was primarily a white terrorist organization that carried out hundreds of murders.

After seeing the film, an enthusiastic Wilson reportedly remarked: "It is like writing history with lightning, and my only regret is that it is all so terribly true." African American audiences openly wept at the film's malicious portrayal of blacks, while Northern white audiences cheered. The film swept the nation. Riots broke out in major cities (Boston and Philadelphia, among others), and it was denied release in many other places (Chicago, Ohio, Denver, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, and Minneapolis). Gangs of whites roamed city streets attacking blacks. In Lafayette, Indiana, a white man killed a black teenager after seeing the movie. Thomas Dixon reveled in its triumph. "The real purpose of my film," he confessed gleefully, "was to revolutionize Northern audiences that would transform every man into a Southern partisan for life."

As the NAACP fought against the film and tried unsuccessfully to get it banned, the Ku Klux Klan successfully used it to launch a massive recruiting campaign that would bring in millions of members. Griffith later regretted the racial prejudice that his film promoted. He tried to make amends by making Intolerance, a film attacking race prejudice. But Intolerance never approached the success of The Birth of a Nation.

Describe the portrayal of blacks in the film. Would you describe any part of the depiction as accurate? Why or why not?

What do you think was the purpose of portraying blacks in the way you observed in the film? Did the historical period in America during which the film was made influence the director’s decision to portray blacks in this way?

Describe some of the many public responses to the film. Can you think of any film in your lifetime that has evoked a passionate public response? Why do you think people responded in that way?

Did it have anything to do with the political or social climate? How about any other factors?